


Blood-stained Carnations

by LightRedFox



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Light Flower Gore, Love Confessions, Multi, Polyamory, bamboo has two hands, hanahaki, jic bc I dont know if it could be triggering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:16:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24272668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightRedFox/pseuds/LightRedFox
Summary: He stares at her with wide eyes, hand still covering his mouth to prevent any of its contents from spilling out. There’s no point to it, in the end.She can see the pure white flower petals slowly land on his boots, tints of blue dripping from them.
Relationships: Bamboo/Stealth (Splatoon), Bamboo/Stealth/Uniform (Splatoon), Bamboo/Uniform (Splatoon)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: CoroikaCollection





	Blood-stained Carnations

Blazer’s known Bamboo for a long time. Years before Rider had approached them to form a team, and a lot longer before Stealth first set eyes on either of them. She knows what Bamboo is like; cold and rough on the surface, but kind and gentle to those who can slip past the cracks. The years spent with Rider and Stealth had allowed the two entrance past the quiet inkling’s facade, and Blazer was more than happy about that; at this point the team was her home away from home. But what she really wanted was for Bamboo’s cold exterior to completely shatter.

Blazer wanted her friend to show when she was happy, when she was sad, when she was angry. She wanted the smile that made her heart soar to be a common occurrence, not just a blink or you’ll miss it moment. She wanted Bamboo’s heart and feelings to be out in the open, where other people could see.

So it would be pretty accurate to say that she was the most excited when Stealth fell for her best friend. Hard. 

The start was right out of one of her cheesy teen romance novels. Stealth became an absolute mess whenever Bamboo gave him attention, stumbled more than once in turf from gazing at her too long, and occasionally Blazer would catch him daydreaming with a dopey grin on his face, perhaps about a certain someone.

And who wouldn’t? She’s strong, talented, reserved….ideal, to Stealth and herself at least, and she swears she feels something giddy bloom inside her whenever she sees the two together. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he’s completely smitten.

So Blazer knows something is wrong when Stealth pushes Bam away right after he gets a hug from her, running out of the lobby with his figure quickly disappearing into the crowd as she and her friends look on in confusion.

“I’ll go check on him.” She says, ever willing to help a friend in need. Rider lets out a grunt of acknowledgement before she sprints after her teammate. She catches a glimpse of camouflage in the crowd and starts pushing her way towards it.

She finds him in a small street alley, hunched over and facing one of the brick walls surrounding him. One hand has its palm pressed hard against the wall, and the other one is clutching his stomach as he coughs and wheezes loudly.

“Stealthy?”

Blazer takes a step forward and he looks at her in surprise before covering his mouth on instinct.

He stares at her with wide eyes, hand still covering his mouth to prevent any of its contents from spilling out. There’s no point to it, in the end.

She can see the pure white flower petals slowly land on his boots, tints of blue dripping from them.

She isn’t surprised that he’s fallen in love. It was obvious from the start, more of a when than a what if. That doesn’t stop the panic from rising. Concern immediately overtakes Blazer once she realizes the situation. He staggers forward and she runs up to catch him from falling.

“You poor thing, how long has this been happening?”

“A-A few w-weeks….”

“Weeks?! Stealthy, why didn’t you say anything?”

“I-I don’t know what’s h-happening to me…” He chokes on his tears as he falls to his knees. She rubs circles on his back to soothe him as he coughs up even more white edelweiss.

xxx

“You need to confess. Soon.”

Stealth jumps at the statement, nervous as ever as he fiddles his fingers out of habit. Rider brings over one of Blazer’s books at her request and sets it down in front of their lovesick teammate, opening it to a certain page.

She’s studied enough Biology books and read too many stories and articles online to know her friend has the dreaded Hanahaki disease. How he had managed to hide it for this long was a mystery, but it wasn’t important now.

Any sane person would have confessed immediately after the first signs, or get the flowers removed surgically, but Stealth was an outsider; he probably had no idea that coughing up petals could end up being so serious.

“You know what Hanahaki is, right? What it does to you?”

“I-I’ve heard of it, but we were never t-told the specifics of what caused it. People would be s-sent to the infirmary one day and be completely f-fine the next.”

“Well, you have it. And it’s because of Bamboo.”

Stealth coughs at the mention of the girl’s name, and a few white petals float down onto the book.

“I don’t know why you didn’t tell us sooner, because what you have can get really serious fast.” Blazer swipes the petals away with a grimace, and points to a paragraph on the page. “Basically, if you have unrequited feelings for someone, these flowers start growing in your lungs, and won’t stop growing until your feelings are returned, or you die. We’re trying to avoid that last one.”

“I-I’d like to avoid that too…what should I do?”

“Tell her you love her, dumbass.” Rider states bluntly, only succeeding in making the octoling turn a deep shade of blue.

“I-I can’t do that! W-What if she rejects me?! What if she never talks to me again-” He’s interrupted by more coughing, the petals coming out tinted with blue blood.

“Listen, Stealthy. The symptoms are only going to get worse the more you ignore them. If you let it continue for much longer, you won’t even be able to open your mouth properly to talk to her.” He flinches at the thought, and nods his head.

“I-I guess there’s no other choice…”

“Great, I’ll set up a date and time for you two to meet.” She takes her phone out, rubbing her forehead with her other hand to ease the stress. “We need to get this over with as soon as possible.”

“Why not do it now?” Rider scoffs, leaning his back against the door. “She’s just on the other side of this door, and the longer you wait, the more you suffer.”

“You have a point, but this is a pretty sensitive topic. I don’t want Stealth to rush in without a plan-”

“N-No, Rider’s right.” Stealth takes a deep breath. “I should tell her how I feel immediately.”

Blazer looks at her friend with uncertainty, but nods her head once she sees the conviction in his eyes. “Ok, just practice what you’re going to say with Rider, and I’ll get Bamboo.”

Rider pats Stealth on the shoulder. “Hey, if she doesn’t like you back, we have 911 on speed dial to save you before your hearts are squeezed to death.”

“T-Thank you guys.” He suddenly wraps the yellow green girl in a hug, and she returns it, feeling an odd itch in her throat until he eventually releases her.

She stands up and Rider takes her seat in front of Stealth as she exits the room. Bamboo’s concerned face greets her as she closes the door shut behind her.

“He’s doing fine, just needs to rest a bit.” Blazer says, already knowing what her friend’s concern is. She nods, but her expression doesn’t change.

“Can I see him?”

“It’s better if you wait until Rider leaves the room. His head is a bit woozy, so I had to leave so that he didn’t get overwhelmed.” She lies through her teeth. Bam doesn’t say anything, electing to stare at the door patiently for Rider to come out.

Welp, Rider was helping Stealth. Time for her to help him out too.

“You seem awfully worried about Stealth.” Blazer carefully leans against the door to prevent her friend from barging in, though she doubts that would even happen.

“Why wouldn’t I be? His actions today were abnormal. You and Rider are just as concerned as I am; I’m his teammate too.”

“Do you see him as more than a teammate?”

“...He’s a good friend. I trust him a lot.”

“Nothing more than that?”

Silence.

“Is he really okay?”

“...He’s going to be fine.” She repeats, mostly to herself. Bamboo pulls her into a hug, and the itch in the back of her throat returns, more annoying than last time. They let go the moment the door swings open and Rider walks out.

“He’s ready.” Is his gruff response, and Bamboo gives Blazer a knowing glance before shutting the door behind her.

A few seconds pass. Then a minute. Then another.

She drags Rider down with her as she creeps towards the door, her curiosity getting the best of her. Her sharp ears twitch at the sound of voices as she listens to the snippets of their conversation.

“Is he doing it?”

“Shhhhh!”

“...I really care about you Bam. I want to be there for you when you need me.”

“Stealth…”

“What I’m saying is that-is that, I like you. A lot. No, even more than that!”

Blazer’s throat begins to itch uncontrollably.

“I love you.”

She feels something foreign surfacing, and doesn't stay to hear Bamboo’s reply, too busy running for the nearest sink while gripping her chest in pain. She barely makes it to the bathroom when the coughing fit starts.

“What the-are you okay?” Rider-he must have followed her-holds her shoulders to steady her body as the fit subsides. She opens her eyes to see bright yellow carnations with orange stripes clutched in her shaky hand, a lot more of them scattered all over the sink.

This can’t be happening.

xxx

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Rider asks again, genuine concern masked through the gruffness of his voice as she calls up the hospital a few days later. She doesn’t reply, still waiting for the line to pick up.

The memory of that day is burned into her mind. The way they both walked out of the room with smiles on their faces, the way their fingers intertwined-She couldn’t be happier for them, really, her friends getting together was supposed to be a dream come true. Yet every time she remembered how happy they looked that day, how happy they had made each other-

She shuts her eyes as another coughing fit overtakes her, and when she opens them again the table is littered with the same yellow-orange flowers. Ah yes, the brightly colored carnations that were now haunting her every thought and action. There were no longer any traces of edelweiss in the apartment, but if you looked into the garbage bins or the sinks, you might spot a few of the orange petals that plagued her mind.

Every time she thought about either Stealth or Bamboo, be it for a split second or much longer, the deeper the flowers took root inside of her. It even seemed as if her case was worse than the ones usually described in her medical books. She was apparently coughing up twice as much as usually noted, which was most definitely speeding up the symptoms. Soon enough they’d grow upwards into her lungs, and deep down towards her hearts until eventually the stems would choke her and result in her untimely demise. The tints of blue beginning to show up during her coughing fits should've been concerning, but that just meant she didn't have the time to worry about them.

Rider’s wise enough to cancel training for the next few days. Their team is still trying to sort things out, and the three of them especially need a break. So while Stealth and Bamboo enjoy the first days of their new relationship, Blazer finally lets the horror of her situation settle into her mind. She’s in love with someone who loves someone else.

There’s finally a crackle of static from the other end, and after a few minutes of conversation Blazer sighs in frustration.

“What do you mean I can’t get surgical procedures yet?”

There’s more conversation, and when the voice stops speaking she sighs in frustration again.

“Alright, thank you for your time.” She ends the call and groans loudly, burying her face into the nearby sofa cushion.

“Didn’t go well?”

“The earliest appointment I can get is in two months. There are too many patients to deal with and since my symptoms aren’t at their worst, I don’t have priority.”

It’s expected, but it doesn’t make it any less of a disappointment. She didn’t know if she could last even a month feeling this way, and they were asking for two.

“The hospital said they’d call back if they found a way to squeeze in an earlier appointment for me, but I shouldn’t get my hopes up.”

“So you really have no plans of confessing?” Rider asks rhetorically, rubbing his forehead.

“How can I confess to a person who’s already in love someone else?”

“I don’t know, you could at least try?”

“I’m sorry Rider, I just can’t.” She shakes her head sadly. “I can’t do that to them.”

Fate acts in cruel ways. The chances of reciprocated feelings are too slim at this point, and she’d rather go straight to the surgical process than risk a trip to the emergency room from a failed love confession.

He doesn’t reply, and she takes that as her cue to leave, coughing out more carnations as she exits the room.

xxx

The weeks after are the most agonizing Blazer’s ever experienced; even worse than the hell weeks full of cramming and stressful tests she’s gone through in school. The sick inkling spends every battle as far away from both of them as possible, running the opposite way whenever the battle starts. On their days off she makes excuses to be left alone whenever they want to go out for lunch or the like. Rider’s good at pretending nothing’s wrong in public, but he’s always there to hold her steady when she vomits more petals into a toilet bowl.

Neither Stealth nor Bamboo suspect anything-at least Blazer hopes so-She did lie to their faces that schoolwork was piling up, and that Rider’s new strategy did in fact entail running as far away from them as possible. But then the symptoms really start kicking in, and it’s harder to stop herself from coughing out the petals everytime Bamboo smiles at her after a victory, or when Stealth tries to approach her with a new idea. In a few weeks time she’s avoiding them completely, making excuses as much as she’s breathing air. It’s not like she has much of a choice, even the mention of their names is enough to want her to spill her flowery guts out.

But it’s all going to be okay. Soon enough the hospital will call, tell her that her appointment is booked, she’ll get her surgery, and then she can pretend that the past few weeks of agony never happened. Everything will go back to normal. Until then, she has to suffer through what’s become a daily requirement of staying as far away from her friends as possible.

One day after school, she gets a text from Rider to meet him at the team base/apartment. He doesn’t give details, but well, it’s Rider. She’s sure it’s important enough to warrant sneaking into where the rest of the team lives, so she enters through the front, peeking in to make sure Stealth and Bamboo aren’t in the living room or kitchen before slowly and silently closing the door behind her.

“No need to be so cautious, they’re out.” Rider rolls his eyes, already standing in front of the spare room Blazer uses when she sleeps over on weekends. Well, used to.

“Mind if we talk here?” He jerks a thumb to the door. “My room’s a bit of a mess right now.”

“Your room? Messy? That’s unusual.”

“So is this whole thing.” He pushes the door open and her hearts freeze.

“Blazer.”

Stealth is sitting on the bed, a familiar book in his lap. His helmet is off and he brushes his big tentacle to the side as he looks at her with sad, deep green eyes.

“Sorry about this.” Is all Rider says before slamming the door shut behind her, leaving Blazer in an extremely uncomfortable situation.

“We need to talk. Whatever excuse you have, save it.”

Her throat is on fire, and she knows if she opens her mouth the petals will come pouring out, so she simply nods her head, and takes a seat next to him. They sit in silence for a while, her companion struggling to start a conversation.

“...The hospital called today.”

Oh. Oh no.

“The lady said that they have a surgeon with a free slot in two days, and asked if you were interested in booking an appointment.” His frown is evident as the words leave his mouth. She gulps down the petals to croak out a few words.

“...What did you say?”

“I told them you’d call back.”

“Oh...thank you.”

“Why would you hide this?” His voice finally cracks and she flinches at the sound.

“You told me that this sickness was dangerous, so why aren’t you taking your own advice? Is this why you’ve been avoiding me and Bam? We could have helped!” His voice trembles as it’s raised.

“You’d only make things worse, trust me.”

You’re a hypocrite, you know that? You tell me to confront my feelings head on, yet run away from yours.”

“You should know best that they can’t return my feelings.” She clenches her fists, crumpling up her skirt.

“Why would I? Do they even know how much pain they’re causing you?”

“I...wait, how much did Rider tell you?”

“He just said you were suffering from the same thing as me, and that it would be a good idea to talk some sense into you and get you to confess.”

He doesn’t realize-She’s going to kill Rider if the flowers blooming inside her don’t kill her first.

“Cod Stealth, you’ve got the wrong idea-”

“I think I have a very good idea of what’s going on-”

“If it was that simple this wouldn’t even be a problem-”

“You’re afraid of being rejected-”

“I can’t confess to anyone-”

“Why are you so sure-”

“Because I’m in love with you and Bamboo!”

They’re both stunned into silence as blood stained petals fall onto the bed. This was it. Blazer feels her hearts beating a mile a minute. In a few seconds he’ll apologize and reject her, the flowers will constrict her blood flow, and she’ll die a painful death.

“I...I didn’t know it was-is that even possible?“

“It confused me at first. I always knew deep down I liked Bam, but I guess all that time we spent together made me realize...these petals, they aren’t just for her. They’re for you, too.” The petals are freely falling out of her mouth now, and her eyes begin to feel wet.

“Blazer…I-”

“Forget it. You two are happy, that’s all I could ask for.” She’s not ready, but if this is how she goes out, at least it’s with everything out in the open. She sniffles and clenches her eyes shut to prepare for the constricting feeling described by those that had faced rejection, only to feel a pair of arms wrap around her to hug her tightly. She expects to feel her hearts stop beating at any moment, but instead she feels the flowers that had magically taken root inside slowly fade out of existence. By the time he lets go she only feels half as much pain as before, the rest of her body going numb. But she’s not dead.

“W-What does this mean?” She manages to get out, trying to understand her situation.

“I love her, you love her, and I love you too. If there’s any chance that we could work things out…”

“All of us together? That’s just wishful thinking.” She’s already having a hard enough time as it is processing that Stealth likes her back.

“We won't know until we try. Please, talk to her. If things don't work out, Rider always has 911 on speed dial.” She chuckles at that.

“Stay here.” Stealth stands up and walks out of the room, leaving Blazer to process her thoughts. Bamboo rushes in moments later, slightly out of breath. Blazer guesses she knows about her illness too.

“You’re not dead.”

“You noticed.” She manages to joke before she feels a coughing fit coming, though it’s noticeably less painful compared to previous ones.

“So you really do have it.” Bamboo waves a hand over the orange petals littering the bed, causing some of them to flutter in the air momentarily.

“Bam, I…” She wheezes as more petals come out of her mouth, the striking orange hues highlighting how out of place the blue tints are.

“Bam, listen carefully to what I have to say.” Stealth holds his partner’s hands in his, and takes a deep breath.

“I love you so, so much. And so does she.” Bamboo looks at Blazer with an unidentifiable expression.

“Blazer…”

“We both have feelings for you, and I think I like Blazer in that way too. I understand if you don’t want to, but if you have room in your hearts for both of us…”

Bamboo looks directly at an uncertain Stealth, who simply smiles nervously before she lets go of his hands to sit on the bed next to Blazer, who hesitantly looks at her. Bamboo cups the other girl’s cheeks with her calloused hands and leans forward, pressing their lips together in a short kiss.

The constricting feeling of the flowers in her lungs is washed away by the soothing feeling of lips on hers, and Blazer is dazed by the time Bamboo pulls away.

“Is that your answer?”

The pain inside finally gone and suddenly filled with euphoria, she tackles both of them down onto the carpeted floor and hugs them tightly, crying and laughing all at once.

“D-Does we mean we’re dating now?” Stealth asks, one hand holding onto Blazer’s shoulder, the other on Bamboos.

“I guess.” Blazer’s laughter subsides before kissing both of her new partners on the cheek and resting her head on Stealth’s chest, seemingly content with laying on top of them.

Rider smiles to himself as he watches the trio from outside the door, hanging up on the emergency hotline.

**Author's Note:**

> edelweiss - promise of devotion, infatuation
> 
> striped carnations - regret that a love cannot be shared


End file.
